It now seems Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has played a gamble by denying tickets to about one-third party MlAs and half a dozen lok Sabha members.
Quite a number of those who were deprived of re-nomination have become rebel candidates while, more significantly, many others are behind-the-scene troublemakers working against the party’s electoral prospects.Patnaik managed to dissuade some rebels from contesting, but the BJD’s troubles seem to be far from over in as many as 40 Assembly constituencies.
Those who defied the party leadership and are now in fray include sitting MlA Anjali Behera in the Hindol Assembly seat, Kusa Apat in Champua and Raghunandan Das in Ersama-Balikuda. The party had no alternative but to suspend their membership on Saturday.
BJD leaders like Surjya Narayan Patro claim that the rebel candidates will not have any adverse impact on the party prospects as winnability was one of the major factors taken into consideration while finalising the tickets. People will vote for Naveen Patnaik as they are happy with him, they assert.
The BJD had won 103 out of the 147 Assembly and 14 of the 21 lok Sabha seats in 2009. leaders like Patro claim that this time the party could win as many as 125 Assembly and over 14 lS seats.
However, many political observers feel this may not be so easy. They do not think the BJD will benefit much from Patnaik’s gamble. They feel the party may retain power but with a much reduced majority in the Assembly. The party’s lok Sabha seats may also fall below the 14 achieved in 2009 primarily because of the Narendra Modi factor, they observe.
This is all due to the first visible dissidence in the party not witnessed in the last three elections. The senior leaders who have been denied tickets this time include former Ministers Prafulla Ghadai, Raghunath Mohanty, Anjali Behera and Duryodhan Majhi.
Patnaik’s official reidence Naveen Nivas witnessed regular protests by disgruntled leaders and workers in past weeks, a scene never seen before.BJD leaders are also contesting as Independents in many constituencies, particularly in the districts of Keonjhar, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Dhenkanal.Moreover, unlike in 2009, there is no strong pro-Naveen wave this time.
Besides, a large number of seats are witnessing multi-corner contests in view of the emergence of new political parties.If Patnaik is voted for the fourth term, he will have the distinction of becoming the longest-serving Chief Minister of any State after Jyoti Basu, who was the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 23 long years from 1977 to 2000.
